Exploring the Rose Garden

This morning I picked up a fisheye lens to play with for the weekend in San Jose. On our way out of town I thought it would be fun to stop at the Rose Garden. I had never been there, but heard wonderful things about it. It's completely maintained by volunteers year round and such a beautiful place! Even more beautiful than the physical appearance of a rose is it's smell, SO delicate and sweet. There's nothing like it. And (to me) even more sweet than that smell was my baby girl laying in the grass with a baby rose that had fallen off it's bloom (given to her by a man walking through the gardens who also thought she was as sweet as the roses). 

Rio Del Mar Beach, Aptos, CA

May 31, 2010

I can't believe I forgot to post these!! This was a really fun day we had, the three of us, on Memorial Day weekend. It was everyone's idea to hit the beach on this day, but we had great luck finding a parking spot and it ended up being a perfect beach for little A. It was low tide, so the water was totally accessible for our little water baby. Fun day. Here are some pictures... ps. who loves the beach?? (above)!

(thank you, auntie Coley for my gorgeous legs ;))

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy

We first met in a graduate class at Santa Clara University. I had just been in a terrible car accident and was foggy from the vicodin I was taking for a head injury. Regardless, I noticed him sitting across the room and he noticed me. He bravely approached me after class and tried to start a conversation with me. I was so out of it, I came off as disinterested and we left it at that. Come to find out we were in multiple classes together, so later that week we met eyes again in Child Development. I was twirling my hair and asking too many questions throughout the class, but Brad liked it. He called me and asked me to coffee later that week and I said, with a lot of hesitation, I would be happy to go with the intention of friendship. See, the thing was, though he was adorable physically, I wasn't attracted to him. I was still attracted to the boys who didn't really want to be with me, the ones I could never feel super connected to. The ones I always thought I could fix and change.  Brad was already clearly so emotionally available and genuinely interested in me and it scared me. (In retrospect I have to laugh at myself, but hey, I'm human and a product of my past, so it makes sense. It's just sad to live and love that way for so long.) Little did I know God put forth the most amazing man I've ever met right smack dab in the middle of the path  I was on. (thank you, God). Brad was mature, filled with hope and SO inspiring! (and he still is all those things).  I'm so glad I took a chance to do something different than I had in my past. I'm so grateful for that gut instinct that told me "this is right" because, as cheesy as it may sound,  I keep falling more and more in love with him the longer we are together. He isn't just my husband, he is my life partner. We are walking through life together with the same goals and values. They are growing closer together as the years pass.  And then we were given Ava and the depths of our connection felt like someone threw cement on it (in a good way). It felt so right and so solid and we can see ourselves in her. We love her immensely and love each other more for what we see in us through her.
I just feel truly loved and blessed. I feel that way because I wasn't looking for what I found in Brad. I wished for it, but I wasn't mature enough to pick it out, as a gift to myself. Something much bigger than me thought I deserved it and I'm still touched at the thought. What a gift!
4 years ago we celebrated a love that we thought was great then, but is even more wonderful now. The people that we love were there with us and the most important thing said was an acknowledgement of how important they are to the success of our marriage. It's so true, and many friends that are a vital part of the health of our marriage hadn't even crossed our paths yet.
It's always fun to remember what a complete blast June 24th was 4 years ago! we danced almost the entire night and just lived right there in that moment!

We did it!! I'm so glad we did. It just keeps getting better...

(these pictures were taken out of the wedding album; hence the quality. We had no digital shots..oh goodness, we are old!)

conversations with Ava

A few days ago Ava and I were eating breakfast together and as I stood up and began to load the dishwasher she said:
"mommy, you're bew-ti-foo"
oh! Thaaaaank yooooou Ava, I said in complete awe. I think you are beautiful too.
"mommy, are you bew-ti-foo?", she asked.
yes, I said. And so are you.
"no, you are bew-ti-foo mommy"

of course, my heart swelled. 

Later that morning as she was having her morning taste of Daddy toast with peanut butter...
Brad said to her "who's my sweetest biscuit?"  and she said:
"AVA! .....(pause) ....And I'm the boss!"

We both burst into laughter and she did too!

We're in trouble  :)

Summer is here!!

We are happy it's here. It means a trip to Boston and two weeks on Cape Cod! It means a great trip to San Diego to visit Grandpa Great! It means summer clothes, my favorite kind, sleeping with the windows open all night long, cool cotton sheets, walks to Yumi Yogurt after dinner, fresh pesto, fresh strawberries....

Fresh tomatoes....

fresh watermelon... (someone I know loves watermelon)

Summer means sitting out on the steps after dinner for a treat, like cool cool popsicles :)

Summer is wonderful! Happy Summer Everyone!

Happy Father's Day

Christopher cuteness :)

So, things are moving forward and I am so excited!! I now have Photoshop, thanks to my awesome friend Kaite who hooked me up! AND, I have more and more people interested in getting shots done, so I can keep practicing with people I love :) I am planning to start a blog just for photography purposes, but for now I will share here on our family blog.

I had the pleasure of sharing an hour with my friend Beth and her cute family on Saturday morning. Christopher is baby #3 for Beth and he is a relaxed little man :) He had just woken up from a good long nap, wanted some of Mama's milk, and then let me wrap him up in a blanket knit for him by his Grandma.  He was just happy to be snuggled up and let me click away, as I admired his calmness and sweetness. (I'm not surprised he's so mellow because Beth and Stu are SOOOO mellow and easy going). Maybe if I practice being more like them I'll have a mellow baby next time ;)!













This is Christopher's big sister, Genevieve (I love her name and she is such a love herself).

He also has a big brother named Max.

 He's a lucky little guy.

Thank you, Beth for opening up your family and home to me. It was an honor to capture your family's beauty.